starveling noun & adjective. ['stɑ:vlɪŋ] M16.
[from STARVE + -LING¹.]
A. noun. An undernourished or emaciated person or animal. Also, a meagre or flimsy specimen of something. M16.
Daily Telegraph Well-nourished plants are less likely to become affected than starvelings.
b. adjective.
1. That lacks enough food; lean and weak for lack of nourishment, ill-fed, hungry. L16.
■ J. Scott The thin starveling look of a hungry repertory actress.
b. fig. Poor in quality or quantity, lean, meagre, scanty. E17.
Times Literary Supplement These days of rather starveling novels.

2. Poverty-stricken; characterized by or exhibiting poverty. M17.
■ M. Robinson Jane Austen's landscape teemed with starveling agricultural laborers.

3. Perishing with cold and exposure. rare. L17.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲